self-indulgent

after january's stresses, i decided i needed to be a little self-indulgent this month...

boe by fallmasche, in OMA merino/silk 4ply - for me!


cookie a. february sock club socks (makoto, in alisha goes around merino/silk/cashmere) & cookies - all for me!


walnut whip hat by ysolda from saturday treat, in handmaiden silk/cashmere - guess who it's for?*


*hint....  ME!!!!!!!!!!

the young apprentice

last week, i had a work experience student at the studio with me. it was pretty interesting for both of us - a teenage, non-crafty boy & someone who's used to working completely on her own, thrown together for a week of making yarn & running a crafty business!  we covered a lot - taking photos for the shop, updating shop listings, packing orders (he parcelled up ALL the club parcels for me, yay!) & we even did some yarn dyeing.

(the hoodie stayed in place pretty much all week, earning him the star-wars-inspired nickname of The Young Apprentice!). 
at the end of the week, he even managed to teach the RSA some yarn-dyeing techniques as well.

we both did pretty well - i learned that i'm not an awesome boss (i'm too used to doing everything myself, & really struggled to delegate tasks to someone else!).  & i think he learned some good work-related lessons too:

• it's important to form a good bond with your work colleagues.

• if your boss asks you to do something (like pose for a silly picture for the company website), you should probably do it.

• sometimes, work means you have to get your hands dirty.

• but sometimes, it also means you end up with something great.

& although i was worried that he'd be a little bored (i mean, really - a non-crafty teenager stuck in a yarn studio all week?) by the end of the week it was official - i have the coolest job ever.

back to basics

if you follow me on twitter, you'll likely already know that january is proving difficult.  behind the scenes, there's been a family thing, as well as the massive home repairs that i've been tweeting about.  the roof of our building has been leaking for over a year, and due to problems with getting all the money together (let's just say that one of the properties in this shared building deserve more bad words than i could ever come up with!) we're only just managing to get it fixed now, at the point where it now involves ripping out & replacing an entire wall & part of the ceiling in the bedroom.  since our household includes a neurotic dog who's scared of men & can't be left on his own if there are workmen about, and a person on the autistic spectrum (me!) who freaks out if things are off-schedule/out of place, it's been awesome.  & after nearly two weeks of stress & exhaustion, the unspeakable happened:  i forgot how to knit.
i couldn't believe it.  i had started a sock for the RSA, but it was the wrong size, so i had to rip it out.  but when it came to starting over, i couldn't figure out what to do.  ok, i thought, it's a mental block - i've just ripped out these socks, and my brain is rebelling at doing all that work over again.  but that's ok - i have other projects on the needles.  i'll just work on them for a while, and restart the socks later. so i opened up another project bag - and nothing happened. i sat looking at the yarn & needles & half-finished cardigan front - i was sure if i just thought about it a little, i could remember what to do.
instead, i burst into tears, and had to be put to bed.
sigh.
luckily, it was only a temporary blip - after some sleep, and a day off (without work, or anyone climbing about the roof with a hammer, or anything to do but relax), i decided to go back to basics.

toe-up stripey socks in OMA merino superwash

phew.

love, love, love

in case you didn't already see the thread on ravelry, there's yet another KAL in the works in the Old Maiden Aunt group!  we took january off because some of us (ok, mostly just me) hadn't finished our projects from the december KAL yet, and needed a little catchup time.  but after spending january clearing the decks of knitting projects, i'll be ready for more KAL fun!
this KAL is fairly open - the theme is "love".  that means you can work on any project, in any yarn, for anyone at all, as long as you can convince me & the rest of the OMA group that it's linked to love. 
i was asked very nicely if i'd consider dyeing something pink for this KAL - it's kind of the colour of love, after all, and a lot of OMA group members love it!  i'm not really a pink person, so i don't have many (any?) pinks on my colourway range, and it would seem that some of you have been feeling a distinct lack of pink!  so, since my customers are made of awesome, and i love them, i had a bit of a dyepot dabble:

"as you wish", shown in superwash merino/silk 4ply

"twu wuv", show in superwash merino/nylon/sparkle 4ply

to find out more & join in, check out the ravelry thread!!

resolved

the start of a new year is always so exciting - a whole year to fill with new plans, new ideas, new projects, & new challenges.  some people call these "resolutions"; here are a few of mine:

• knit more socks.  the RSA (resident sock appreciator) hasn't had new socks in a while, and has just worn holes in a few old socks, so clearly more sock knitting is needed.  to help with this plan, i was gifted a membership in the Cookie A. sock club for xmas (yay!!) - a whole year of sock patterns, sock yarns - and cookie recipes too!
• knit myself some classic, simple cardigans & sweaters that actually FIT.  i've been struggling with this for a while - throughout losing weight, i didn't knit any garments at all, because i didn't know what would fit me when i hit my goal.  and now that i'm more or less where i want to be weight-wise, the image i have of my body shape hasn't caught up with what my body is actually like now, so the couple of garments i've made lately haven't fitted properly at all (sigh).  that means i need to take proper measurements of my shape, and more importantly, actually believe the measurements, even if it looks smaller than i think it should!
• read more.  i LOVE to read, but it kind of falls by the wayside sometimes.  now that i have a kindle, i have no excuse - i'll have hundreds of books with me everywhere, all the time, and no reason not to read them.
• start taking cello lessons again.  i started last year, but over the summer i was away, then my tutor was away, then work/life/etc got a bit out of hand, and not only did i stop going to lessons, but i haven't picked up my cello since july.  i will start again, and i will practice!!
• & last but certainly not least - my biggest goal this year is to become a tough mudder - the scottish event is in july!!  it might seem a little nutty - i definitely have my doubts! - but then, if you'd told me last year that i'd be clocking up 12 miles a week of running time, plus 2-3 gym sessions a week, and actually (shocked whisper) enjoying it - well, i'd have thought that was pretty nutty too.  so who knows?  (just so you know, this is NOT the training program i'll be following.)

so, what are you up to this year?